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30 Jun 2011

26 Jun 2011

The last few years, I've had to fly to Bangkok, the beautiful capital of Thailand, for work-related projects. Being part of a multinational advertising agency has allowed me to brainstorm with other like-minded creatives in the region and work on foreign TV productions over there.

Last month, I went back for an editing job and during my downtime, I was able to go around the city and do some window- and actual shopping.

Bangkok is famous in Asia for carrying fashionable items at dirt cheap prices. And I say this as a Filipino (to think that the prices of clothes, shoes and accessories in general over here are very affordable compared to those of our Asian neighbors). Whenever I'm in Bangkok, I can't help but mentally compute the price differences of various items. Their clothes cost a fraction of ours here, their gadgets are significantly cheaper and to fill one's stomach with food won't cost you more than a few baht.

The thing with Bangkok is that you need to know where to look. To shop at high-end brands, you would go to malls such as Siam Paragon and CentralWorld.

To get style-eco friendly looks, you would hit the night markets of Bangkok (they're on every street and pedestrian overpass starting 8 pm), malls such as Platinum (floor after floor of really fashionable but more than affordable clothes), MBK (which I will write about in a bit) and the Chatuchak Weekend Market (famous for its really wide range of items at bargain prices).

Here are some of my photos from my last trip.

A typical street market scene. You can find almost anything under the sun from dresses, tops, skirts, shorts, trousers, leggings, jewelry, shoes, bags and sunglasses in these street markets. Don't forget to haggle, too. Chances are that cheap item you're eyeing will be sold to you for much cheaper. The Thai vendors are generous like that.

Printed trousers on sale at 179 baht (PhP 250 or USD 5). Did I mention that stylish clothes were really affordable in Bangkok?

One of the many tables selling sunnies for just 69 baht (PhP 95 or USD 2).

This is one of their high-end malls, CentralWorld.

A couple of hundred meters away from CentralWorld via the walkway system is my most favorite shopping place, MBK. It's one huge mall (eight floors) that sells the most varied things from gadgets to clothes, shoes, bags, accessories and everything else you can possibly think of.

A shot from one of the many intersecting escalators. MBK's interiors are something to look at. If you haven't been inside long and frequently enough, you might get confused because of how big it is.

Printed tops priced at 299 baht (roughly PhP 400 or USD 8.50).

Whenever I shop for my brothers, I always make sure to pass by this particular stall. It carries branded sportswear for a fraction of what they would buy here in Manila. I was able to buy a pair of the latest Adidas basketball shoes for our brother Chuck for roughly PhP 2,500.

At Loft (located in Siam Discovery), one can find this wall of make-up accessories. Because of how the items were stocked, you leave the place wishing you could've bought every single one of them.

Thailand is famous for their silk. So, men, you should seriously stock up on neckties whenever you visit Bangkok. I always make sure to get several for my dad, a necktie fanatic. You can buy affordable ties at MBK for 100 baht (PhP 140 or USD 3) or pricier ones at 500 baht (PhP 700 or USD 15). This shot was taken inside Tokyu, in the department store within MBK.

According to my Filipino friend who now works in our Bangkok office, OPI is the staple nail polish brand used in salons across Bangkok. A far cry, I daresay, from our salons here which usually carry local brands. Not that I have anything against local brands (in fact, our blog aims to promote brands whose quality and styles are at par with foreign ones) but I've yet to encounter a local nail polish brand that doesn't chip easily and has a wide range of options in terms of colors and texture.

A shot of the night market across the street from my hotel, which was Arnoma.

The Thai have a very unique sense of fashion. I'm not quite sure if this girl was trying to pull off a Kate Middleton-esque look.

Even bunnies there are fashionable. Buy one bunny, get a bunny outfit for free!

Rings are everywhere in Bangkok. These were sold on a blanket laid out on a pedestrian overpass. You can get silver and brass rings for as low as 30 baht (PhP 45 or US 95 cents), 50 baht (PhP 75 or USD 1.60) and 80 baht (PhP 112 or USD 2.40) depending on the style and size.

Really cheap belts of every color and every style can be bought from the night markets for only 50 baht (PhP 70 or USD 1.50). I regret not hoarding. Imagine how many of these I can pair with different kinds of shorts or jeans? Failure on my end.

To end this photo-heavy post, here's a shot of me with one of my unique finds there: an iPhone case in the form of an old school casette tape.

It would be great to take Cooky with me the next time I go. I'm pretty sure she'll go wild when she sees all the things she can buy there. The last time we were there as a family (it was a girls' bonding trip with our mom after I graduated from college) was seven years ago. It'd be great to go there purely for leisure and for sightseeing.

23 Jun 2011

Lately I've been on house arrest since my body physically expressed its need to rest. In short, I've needed to stop moving and moving (which I must say, is hard for me) and just stay at home, take it easy, and recuperate. Well, since I've been home, what better way is there to entertain myself than to go online. And since I've been itching to shop, my only resort was to go online shopping. These days, that isn't so hard to do.

BUT since I don't have all the money in the world (because yes, the world doesn't work that way), and I'm still waiting for heaven to send me a job offer so I can start earning, I've had to reside to making this shoe wish list. These are styles, colors and designs I've found on various online shops, that I absolutely adore (and secretly wish I could bippity boppity boo into my shoe closet).

Prices for these babies usually range from PhP 1,500-2,000. Not bad. Only bother is that there's an extra charge for the shipping fee. :/

I'm loving nude colors, as well as bright colors on wedges and heels. Such beautiful creatures. Don't you agree?

Oh, and I forgot to mention.... as much as I'd love to buy all these pairs, there's a minor (well actually BIG) problem that always gets me depressed. Shoe sizes. Yes, with my not-very-Asian height, I'm always on the hunt for size 9's and 10's, which are not always, in fact rarely available. So many times I've found the perfect pair of shoes, only to be devastated that they didn't have it my size. Oh the misery. So yes, you can imagine my joy when I actually do find one that fits perfectly! :)

So for now, I will just admire from a far... or in this case, from the screen. But I promise, the day I actually get a good pair delivered to me, I will most definitely share my joy will ya'll ;) Keep shoe lovin!

20 Jun 2011

19 Jun 2011

So I was in Shangri-la Mall looking for cargo pants for a dance costume which was honestly, not very exciting :/ I wasn't crazy about spending probably 1k or more on a pair of pants I knew I would not really use after our performance. And they weren't exactly easy to find. A lot of shops didn't carry them anymore, and if they had stock, they were very limited. Mostly skinnies. Eventually I decided to give up, and just head back. But thank the heavens, because I decided to take one more turn around the shops, and came across a sign which had my favorite word on it: SALE. I looked up to see what store I was standing in front of, and I jumped for joy when I realized it was Schu! :)

I've always loved the brand. I never fail to check out their items whenever I come across one of their branches. I admit I find their prices quite on the upper scale, so I'd basically just window shop or try to save up some money to go back for something I like. But this time, I could NOT say no. Why? Because in this moving out sale, everything was for PhP 799 and below!! I died just a little then :))

In cases of shopping emergencies such as this, it's always great to have a credit card on stand by :D You never know when you're going to need it. Haha.

After looking around for a bit, my eye caught these brown and black heels with leopard straps as an accent. As a lover of animal print, I knew I had to get them. Since I'm also into more bold or flashy colors now, I also decided to get these gold loafers which I knew my sister and I could share :) My happiness for my finds grew when the saleslady told me that the original prices of the shoes were about PhP 3,000 +! What awesome buys! I was extremely glad I didn't miss out on this! :D

(Took shots of the shoes boxes and packaging as well because I think they're just so pretty. Perfect for gifts! You can just give them straight in the box! :D)

Today I felt like putting together an outfit that featured color blocking (which I've been wanting to try), and I paired them with the nice new heels I got :) Happy with the turn out!

Looking forward to styling an outfit with my gold loafers. Really glad I got these two pairs. Happiness is indeed spelled S.A.L.E! Hopefully I'll bump into one again soon! Til then!

12 Jun 2011

1 Jun 2011

This event was created to bring the community of fashion bloggers (fashion lovers and fashionistas also) together. Famous fashion bloggers would be there to sell pieces from their closet. It was also initiated to raise social awareness and to give back to children who needed school supplies and financial aid for their education. This is quite an ingenious idea if you ask me... bringing blogging and bloggers to life to bring people together for a cause.

Blogging has truly become a powerful tool to influence the way people think, what they like, how they want to look, and what they want to spend on. It has seen a real boom in the online sphere, and it seems that bloggers who have really made a name for themselves have in some way, achieved celebrity status. Proof? I saw several shoppers go up to famous bloggers asking for a picture with them :P I couldn't blame them, these bloggers were all dolled up and looking glamorous even if they had already been at the venue very early in the morning, playing sales lady for the items they were selling. Hands down to them.
The event took place at The Lounge in Malayan Plaza Hotel in Ortigas. Upon entering the hotel lobby, I immediately saw people all dressed up, with bags and bags of buys. For sure they had come from the bazaar. Seeing the smiles on their faces made me excited to go up and get my hands on some good finds. ;)

The placed was packed. There was a first floor, and an upper floor. So many people had showed up. Even if the day hadn't ended yet, I could already tell that it was a success.

I went with my friend, Tippi, who's a student of the School of Fashion and the Arts (SOFA). A lot of the bloggers go there as well, so I was happy that I got to meet some of them :) I bumped into several people I knew as well. It was nice seeing familiar faces and making new friends.

I heard that all the really good stuff had already been taken in the morning (I went late afternoon already, bummer.) The items had gone FAST, and I mean real fast. My friend, Kryz Uy, a very famous fashion blogger had tweeted at around 1pm that half of her items had already been sold. And the event was still going to end at 8pm! I was still, however, able to get me some good stuff. I left there with a nice dark purple blazer, a nautical midi skirt, a multi-colored skort, and two rings. All of this for PhP 700. Not bad :)

It wasn't so much because of what I was able to score that made the event fun. It was really being part of the community there, meeting and greeting. And of course, it's always a joy for me to be around fashionistas. Dressing up is always fun ;)

I hope there could be a part 2 of this. Next time, I'm going earlier. Haha. Congratulations to all the bloggers who put this together, and to Melai Entuna who spearheaded the event!(Credit to Tippi Sy for some of the pictures :D)

About

This fashion blog is co-owned and maintained by the Araneta sisters, Cooky and Tina. One is a lover of fashion, retail therapy and entrepreneurship; the other, a lover of words, photography and design. Together, they hope to show that style doesn't come with a price tag.

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